| Action | Adopt new standards for licensed private child-placing agencies. |
| Stage | Proposed |
| Comment Period | Ended on 4/1/2011 |
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I am opposed to the following language in the proposed regulation:
"B. The licensee shall prohibit acts of discrimination based on race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, political beliefs, sexual orientation, disability, or family status to: 1. Delay or deny a child's placement; or 2. Deny an individual the opportunity to apply to become a foster or adoptive parent." This language would force Christian adoption agencies to provide adoption services to homosexuals, even though this is against the moral principles of such agencies and quite possibly the birth parents. It would certainly violate the trust of birth parents who place their child with a Christian adoption agency in order to ensure that the child will be placed in a Christian home. Such a regulation strikes directly at our constitutionally protected religious freedoms and should be abandoned. Rather, the language should encourage private adoption agencies to work in a manner that respects the religious beliefs and freedoms of the birth parents, adoptive parents, and agency staff.